


One and One Make Five

by Two_Divided_by_Zero



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, a little bit of doom and gloom to start, eventual spoilers for the whole game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 15:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Two_Divided_by_Zero/pseuds/Two_Divided_by_Zero
Summary: After his teacher's arrest, Yusuke may as well have been playing pick up sticks with what remained of normalcy.  When life gave him lemons, he packed up what little he could and moved in to LeBlanc.  (For one night, at least.)  In the end, catharsis is green and life does go on, even if there are still bumps in the road.No one said being a Phantom Thief would be easy. Then again, none of them really had a choice in the matter, did they?





	One and One Make Five

**Emerald**

 

_Emerald is a brilliant, deep green, like the gemstone from which it takes its name. William Shakespeare was one of the early adopters of emerald as a color name in the 1600s. Prior to that, the term, which comes to us from the Greek smaragdos meaning "green gem," was connected to the precious green stone called beryl. Maybe because of the rarity of the gemstone, emerald green is often used to reflect an exquisite or precious quality, as in Emerald Isle, a poetic name for Ireland made popular by the Irish writer William Drennan in his poem "When Erin First Rose."_

\---

 

After his teacher’s public confession thoroughly upended everything Yusuke had built his life upon, every day became a new struggle. Going to school was more like navigating a minefield; he was constantly watching what he said to avoid talking to anyone about his situation. It felt like being a child again and mapping which floorboards squeaked loud enough to be heard when he’d sneak into the kitchen; only walk when the hallways were clear, don’t make eye contact with the teachers, keep your head down when you hear people gossiping about, “that old guy who confessed to stealing his student’s art.”

 

He could hear their words behind his back. 

 

_That poor boy. That **sad** boy. That pitiable boy._

 

The only time he ever felt comfortable in his skin anymore was when he was surrounded by the other members of the Phantom Thieves of Heart. While ragtag and a touch loud at time, Yusuke couldn’t help the sense of kinship he felt with this ragamuffin team.

 

When he found himself penniless and homeless, it only seemed right to scrape up what little saving he had left to buy a present and move into LeBlanc.

 

Sayuri came as well, of course.

 

(It soon became obvious that this solution was perhaps not as obvious to the other members of their team as it was to him, but this is also the same team that thought it a good idea to put Ryuji in charge of designing a calling card for a master artist.)

 

Despite the initial...snag… Yusuke soon found himself following Akira up the stairs to a rather cozy living space. 

 

Akira began sheepishly wiping dust off his desk. “I apologize in advance for the mess. If I had known we’d be having company, I would have at least cleaned a little more.”

 

“For a phantom thief, you sure are a terrible liar!” Morgana jeered as he popped out of his usual carrier. “I don’t know how you manage to fool anyone!”

 

 _Wink_. “I fooled you into thinking I would make a competent phantom thief~!”

 

There was hardly enough time to react before Morgana had launched his way across the room to paw angrily at Akira’s face. Yusuke could only watch in stunned silence as Akira dodged flying paws with an enviably sense of grace. Even with a snarling cat clawing frantically at his face, Akira just laughed and continued to tease.

 

‘You’re wrong,’ Yusuke remembered thinking, ‘Morgana was absolutely correct in thinking you would make a competent phantom thief.’

 

That night, he picked up a new canvas and started to paint.

 

All he’d been able to scrounge up from the atelier before leaving had been various old containers of _green_. Tubes of green, jars of green, cups of green, oils, watercolors, acrylics…

 

All lined up on the now dust-free desk, they certainly looked like the ingredients for a disaster. Who knew how old any of these paints were and if they were even the same _color_ anymore? Ugly yellow browns and crusty greens that looked more like clods of dirt at this point… Yusuke could already envision the mess instead of a masterpiece.

 

Even knowing all that, Yusuke couldn’t help but open the first tube - willfully ignoring the rusty splotches on the label - and squeeze a dollop onto a piece of cardboard in lieu of an easel. Upon noticing that it did indeed look “emerald green” like the label promised, he felt a little more hopeful as he made the first stroke.

 

Madarame would likely have - **had** , he reminded himself - nothing kind to say about this new concept. The green he had chosen was far too rich of a hue, the composition was lacking, his brush strokes looked so thick a toddler may as well have made th-

 

“Oh, is this a new painting?”

 

True to his reputation as a phantom thief, Akira made barely a sound as he peered over Yusuke’s shoulder. He hemmed and hawed dramatically, causing Yusuke to internally squirm. “I know it’s not-!”

 

“I love it already.”

 

From his perch on the bed, Morgana gave a snort of disbelief before curling back up and going to sleep. “ _I’d_ prefer an original Hokusai or Picasso…”

 

“Too bad no one asked you!” Akira received a sharp _hss_ in response, which he laughed off rather easily.

 

(Yusuke didn’t know cats could adequately express indignation before that moment. You learn something new everyday?)

 

While the other two began to playfully snipe at each other, Yusuke looked back at his painting thoughtfully. Those sloppy lines, the areas where the paint had glopped messily… Akira hadn’t criticized any of it. He had seen the ugly fledgling stage and found beauty in it.

 

For the first time in as long as he could remember, Yusuke had received praise for something he had _wanted_ to paint. There was no pressure to perform, no teacher standing at the door and providing not-so-subtle corrections to his work, no ‘suggestions’ for what his next work might be. Even with limited supplies to work from, he had still managed to create something that a person he greatly admired found the potential for beauty in.

 

He went to bed that night having decided to leave the Sayuri with someone where it would be as appreciated and treasured as it deserved. The night passed quietly and dreamlessly.

 

(In hindsight Yusuke would realize how melodramatic his thinking at the time had been. However, after everything that had happened in the past month or so, he felt his past self was perfectly justified in being a little dramatic.)

**Author's Note:**

> If people enjoy this fic, I will make every attempt to update multiple times a week! It will likely not be terribly long, but I hope you like it all the same!
> 
> Chapters might be shorter, but updates will be quicker!


End file.
